BOWMAN, SAM. W. International Naval Rendezvous Hampton Roads, Va. April and May 1893. Large color-tinted lithograph with hand finishing. 29 1/2x41 inches sheet size, wide margins; archivally lined on verso discreetly stabilizing several splits and creases; in blue pencil at upper margin: "The egg from which the Exposition was hatched". Norfolk, VA, 1893

Estimate $500 - 750

Large chromolithographed view of Hampton Roads crowded with sailing vessels from 9 different countries. The ships converged for a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the New World. Replicas of the Columbus ships Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria along with a proposed statue of his likeness are found at the center of the view. Corner insets show a trades parade, a yacht race, and the battle between the Civil War ironclads Monitor and Merrimac. The inscribed quip above the title refers to the concurrent World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.